Wednesday, October 05, 2005

"Most Peace-Loving of Nations"

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson stated (without cracking a smile):

"We go to war but grudgingly and then only when compelled by the requirements of restoring peace, justice, and good order, for we among all the peoples of the world comprise the most peace-loving of nations."

Funny thing is, when President Wilson made that statement, he failed to mention that from the country's inception, the United States has been involved in some military conflict nearly each and every year.

Since 1917, little has changed. Here is a chronology of American conflicts since President Wilson made his speech. Tell me how "peace loving" we really are....

1918-20: U.S. sends troops to Panama to oversee an election (This was about the fifth or sixth time the U.S. had sent troops to Panama).

1918-20: Marines land in Vladivostock, Soviet Union to support counter-revolutionary forces in Siberia. Soon, the marines are joined by 7,000 army personnel. Another 5,000 troops are sent to Archangel to combat the Soviet forces (500 Americans die). A separate marine unit participates in a Marine landing on the Murman Coast of the USSR.

1919: American troops land at Trau, in Dalamatia to "maintain order" during a dispute between Italians and Serbs because of the threat the dispute poses to American commercial interests.

1932: 600 troops are used against impoverished American veterans of World War I (the "Bonus Army") peacefully encamped in Washington D.C. The veterans were seeking payment from the government for unpaid bonuses owed unto them.

1933: Naval forces dispatched to Cuba to help prop American puppet in Cuba, Gerardo Machado.

1945-46: Troops are garissoned in Iran and China to counter the Soviets.

1945-52: War Department (Department of Defense) arranges for impoverished Navajo Indians to receive small business loans to become self-employed uranium miners in New Mexico and Arizona. Information concerning the extreme health dangers associated with the radon gas naturally emitted by uranium ore is intentionally withheld from the Navajos. Lung cancer mortality among the miners eventually nears 100%.

1945-54: Military conducts radioactive tests in the atmosphere, harming the civilian downwind populations (cancer) Thousands of troops exposed to the direct radiation of nuclear blasts so that the DoD can assess the "effects on combat efficiency attending committment to the atomic battlefield."

1945-54: In Alaska, DoD researchers coerce indigenous Inuits to swallow capsules of pure uranium in order to "study the effects of massive contaminationon the human organism."

1945-58: Using the "trust authority" it had asserted over the Marshall Islands after World War II, the U.S. converts its "protectorate" into a test range for nuclear weaponry. The islands of Bikini, Kwaljalein, and Enewetak which had been inhabited were rendered uninhabitable thereafter. Moreover, residents of nearby islands Utirik and Rongelap are essentially used as human lab rats so that the DoD can study the fallout effects (horrific mutations occur in these islands as a result).

1945-2002: After what was supposed to be a temporary partition of Korea after WWII, America installs an American friendly regime in South Korea, backed with 50,000 troops. After numerous (2,617) troop incursions in the North, a war ensues when North Korea finally invades South Korea. A three year war takes place, ending in stalemate. American troops remain in South Korea to this day.

1946-73: The U.S. backs the army of Chaing Kai-shek with material assistance and 100,000 American troops. This army wages a bitter but unsuccessful counterinsurgency war against Chairman Mao's "people's liberation army." Chaing's forces take refuge on the island of Formosa (now Taiwan). Thereafter, CIA and American clandestine military forces conduct an array of operations against China, lasting until at least 1973.

1947-48: The CIA subverts free elections in Italy by threatening "another world war" if the communist party were to win at the Italian polls. The subversion results in the defeat of the communists, but vicotry for a corrupt anticommunist party.

1947-51: U.S. wages counterinsurgency campaign against Greek communists. Greece eventually is pushed into an anticommunist dictatorship.

1947-57: The CIA uses guerilla soldiers from Baltic states (many of them former nazis) to fight guerilla wars against Soviet troops. 80,000 Soviet troops are killed in these guerilla wars.

1948-49: U.S. deploys combat units to Berlin.

1950: Strategic planners prepare a secret study known as NSC-68, outlining the requirements for turning the U.S. into a fullblown "National Security State." The document calls for curtailment of political expression, comprehensive indoctrination of the general public against communism. NSC-68 shamelessly suggests falsifying data to serve its purpose.

1950-2002: The U.S. violates the Treaty of Ruby Valley with the Shoshone indians, thereby confiscating and using Shoshone land to detonate over 1,000 nuclear devices for testing purposes.

1953: The CIA overthrows the democratically elected government of Mossadegh in Iran and installs the anti-democratic Shah of Iran. Military is immediately sent into Iran to consolidate and control Iran's future as an American client state.

1953-54: CIA overthrows the democratic government of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala and replaces it with a military dictatorship "friendlier" to American business interests.

1956-57: Military troops sent to Thailand and train Thai troops to invade Cambodian border areas.

1957-58: The CIA attempts eight (8) separate overthrows of the Nasser government in Egypt.

1957-58: The CIA sets out to assasinate the president of Indonesia, but fails. Then, the CIA supports a coup d'etat against the same government in Indonesia. That too fails.

1957-1988: The US government enters into an agreement to build nuclear reactors for the racist government of South Africa. South Africa finally begins production of nuclear weapons in 1979, thanks to American assistance. The US supports South Africa until the regimes collapse in 1988 despite a UN embargo.

1958: 14,000 marines land in Lebanon to "keep order" during the nation's civil war.

1959: Marines land in Haiti to prevent the overthrow of a ruthless and brutal (but American-freindly!) regime.

1959-79: The U.S. enters into an agreement to build nuclear reactors for the Shah of Iran. The reactors fall into the hands of the anti-American revolutionaries in 1979.

1959-2002: Troops land in Cuba to bolster a pro-American Cuban dictator. The dictator, however, is eventually overthrown in 1959 by Fidel Castro. CIA soon begins organizing what will become known as the Bay of Pigs invasion against Cuba. It fails. Over the years, the CIA attempts numerous assasinations of Castro. The CIA also uses bacteriological and chemical warfare against Cuba.

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Just to play Devil's Advocate it might be argued that some of these (if not a majority) were made to keep other nations peaceful towards America. Or at least too poor or in too much dissaray to mount an effective offense. I find it deeply amusing that so many people are unwilling to see any gray areas in social issues like poverty, crime, sexuality but have a ready-list of reasons/justifications for the grayest area of all - the area between colonization/war and safety.

our imperialistic history is no secret, but this really is a great list. our war machine has been such a driver of our economy through the years. think of how we got ourselves out of the great depression. this is a sad and unfortunate truth that arguably drives us towards war. i mean look at all the money american companies are making from this debacle in iraq.

Just to play Devil's Advocate it might be argued that some of these (if not a majority) were made to keep other nations peaceful towards America. Or at least too poor or in too much dissaray to mount an effective offense. I find it deeply amusing that so many people are unwilling to see any gray areas in social issues like poverty, crime, sexuality but have a ready-list of reasons/justifications for the grayest area of all - the area between colonization/war and safety.

our imperialistic history is no secret, but this really is a great list. our war machine has been such a driver of our economy through the years. think of how we got ourselves out of the great depression. this is a sad and unfortunate truth that arguably drives us towards war. i mean look at all the money american companies are making from this debacle in iraq.